Saturday Snapshots #17

St Paul’s Cathedral – August 2007

St Paul’s cathedral in central London is Sir Christopher Wren’s crowning achievement.  Completed in 1708 as a replacement for a previous St Paul’s cathedral on the same site (which was gutted in the Great Fire of London in 1666), its great dome was inspired by St Peter’s basilica in Rome.  The dome rises to an impressive 365 feet at the cross and it is possible to ascend the 350 steps to the little golden gallery that you can just make out atop the lead-clad dome.  For the less adventurous, there is the famous Whispering Gallery which runs around the interior circumference of the base of the dome (a mere 259 steps from ground level).  Both the interior and exterior views are well worth the climb.  The cathedral was targeted inthe London Blitz during World War II but miraculously survived, and I cannot think of a building in London that gives me more joy.

This photo is unusual not only because of the wonderful interplay of clouds and sun, but also because this is not a view that is normally accessible.  When I took the photo, an entire block of buildings on Cheapside had just been knocked down for redevelopment, and suddenly this rather lovely and previously hidden vista of St Pauls was visible from its eastern end.  Sadly, not long after it was taken, the cranes went up and there is now a massive construction site creating a new building that will block off this view for good.

Saturday Snapshots is a series of non-food photographs published every Saturday on CookSister.  Previously featured photographs can be viewed on the Saturday Snapshots archive pages. Many photos featured in Saturday Snapshots are available to buy as high-quality greeting cards or prints in my RedBubble store.